Boba Fett's triumphant return to the Star Wars saga was realised through the second season of The Mandalorian, after being teased in Season 1. Boba made his return on the sands of Tatooine as an apparent hermit and this story would be further explored in the spin-off series, The Book of Boba Fett.
The first action figure in the 6-inch Star Wars Black Series line of Boba Fett from the Disney+ shows came as part of Wave 6 of the Galaxy Collection, released in Spring 2022. It features Boba in his dessert garb and as seen in the story 'The Tragedy' from Season 2 during the battle on Tython.
Because of this, Boba Fett is part of the Mandalorian Galaxy Collection Series, number 20 in the line to date. The box, therefore, features the dark orange colour scheme and highlights on the artwork. The rear of the box carries the same artwork as the side panel and a short piece of text.
"Once regarded as one of the most fearsome and capable bounty hunters in the galaxy, Boba Fett seemingly met his demise in the Sarlacc pit on Tatooine. A survivor to his core, Fett lived to fight another day"
Boba Fett has been created by Hasbro as a sculpted body, over which they have placed a soft-goods robe. This doesn't look particularly good in the box, and less so out of the box compared to what we see on screen during the Tython scenes.
The robe Hasbro have created is fully enclosed and is more Jedi-like, compared to the more rugged material we see Boba wearing. The material used on the existing Black Series Tusken Raider figure would have been a much better fit for obvious reasons. When you watch 'The Tragedy' and of course subsequent Book of Boba Fett episodes, the cape hangs heavy on Boba and exposes more of the robes underneath, rather than covering them completely.
The head sculpt is new and is a good likeness to Temura Morrison, although it lacks the scarring, texturing, and depth of injury we see Boba sporting in these early scenes as he returns to the Star Wars universe. What Hasbro have done instead is utilise the face print tech to execute the more realistic eyes, mouth, and shading around the nose - then over this have applied white patches as the scarring tissue. Like the robes, this doesn't do the character justice and ends up looking like Boba has a dirty face rather than a scarred one. I've even seen people online asking if it's a factory error rather than a deliberate paint job.
The figure also seems to suffer with this more recent issue of very glossy heads in the Black Series. There is a lot of sheen from Boba, particularly with his shaved head and the finish is very much different to a Marvel Legends figure for example released at the same time?
Thankfully the cloak is not a complete write-off and under them there is a full set of sculpted robes that are accurate to the episode. We also get a sculpted - and very well painted - ammo belt that also includes a holster. The figure is pinless throughout all of the joints which helps the overall finish and the joints are cleverly disguised on the legs with the robes of the knee extending over the knee so it bends behind it - a technique we also saw with the Wave 7 Ahsoka Tano figure, also from The Mandalorian.
So with a little bit of work, the robes are serviceable if you can tuck them away at the sides so as to expose the much better sculpted plastic detail underneath. The hood will work to an extent, but like most Black Series hoods on robes, it lacks the weight or the fabric type to sit naturally over the head so it ends up looking too big and oversized. The usual trick of wetting the hood and then shaping it may work but it really needed a heavy material and better stitching to get it to sit in position.
Tython Boba Fett is well armed for a Black Series figure starting with his blaster which is a gunmetal silver piece with a painted brown handle. Like the prop itself, it is pretty featureless but the overall accuracy is good with the visible twin barrels and upper sights.
It slips into the right gloved hand of Fett with the usual trigger finger design that slots the finger into the slot of the trigger. When not in use, it nestles neatly in the holster.
Boba's larger weapon is his Cycler Rifle and this is not the same Cycler Rifle included with the Tusken Raider figures and presents with a slimmer barrel and grip. It is brown in base colour with grey sights and gold rings running up the barrel and around the trigger. It features an adjustable rubber strap that loops around the stock and again around the barrel with the latter section then sliding up and down the barrel depending on how you want the rifle slung - either over one shoulder or as we see on Tython across the back diagonally.
This adjustable strap also helps when posing Boba with the weapon in hand as it can be rotated to hand naturally depending on the orientation of the weapon. It is a little tricky getting the right hand to line up with the gun and then slipping the left hand around the barrel to support the shooting poses.
Finally, we have Fett's custom Gaffi stick and this new accessory appears to be made in two parts with the larger end cast in a deep brown to represent wood, and the other side a bright gold. The weapon fits into either or both hands and can be wielded in a number of positions. It features a simply tied strap that goes over the body to hand the Gaffi over Boba's back. This strap is not elasticated so avoid any significant strain as the knots will most likely deteriorate over time.
Fett has 19 points of articulation across a pinless body. Both elbows and knees are single joints with a rotation and as mentioned are engineered to look like part of the sculpted robes. Boba includes the butterfly shoulders which don't move extensively but do help with the Gaffi stick and Cycler rifle poses. He also includes the two-part neck which gives more expressive head movements and removes the need for the visible joint in the neck itself.
Everything works really well and Boba is easy to pose and display with each joint doing what is expected of it and holding in place securely. The trick is to get the pose then try and get the robe to sit around that - and sadly that is difficult and Boba still ends up looking off in a lot of positions purely on the back of the soft goods.
As a huge Boba Fett fan, this was a figure I wanted to love. Sadly, he comes with a lot of issues and they are very visual issues in terms of the way the head is sculpted and then painted, and then the choice of fabric for the robes.
Boba needed to look scarred and tattered and needed to be wearing the heavy almost sack life textured robes of the Tusken Raiders, instead, he does look more like a Jedi and while there are good poses in the figure, most of the ones I have tried end up looking flat and lifeless. I do remain an advocate of soft goods where required, and you couldn't do this Boba entirely in sculpted plastic without huge sacrifice on articulation. The figure is one that I suspect many will tweak with after-market cloaks.
On the positive side, we get all three of Tython Boba's primary weapons, and the robes underneath are very well executed if you can train the soft goods to show them off by sitting off to the sides. I do feel this would have been a more suitable choice as the first figure in The Book of Boba Fett Galaxy Series, being a look he sports across both shows - starting TBOB series with Fennec Shand feels wrong when this figure was in the same wave? Here's hoping the subsequent Fett figures on the way do improve on what is essentially his transitional look between his apparent death in Jedi and his return in The Mandalorian.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...